UPDATE (02/19/2010 10:00 A.M.):
The commissioners that voted for the change indicated that it was best to let the market decide whether the lower payout should get implemented. Gaming Division spokesman Don Burmania said the commissioners essentially stated in their decision that “the rule was permissive and not mandatory, so the offering of the odds becomes a business decision that the casinos decide, not a regulatory decision that the regulators decide.”

The lower payout can go into effect April 30, though some casinos have said publicly that they don’t plan to implement it. (Whether that holds true six months down the road is another matter).

Currently, casinos must pay 3 to 2 on a blackjack, meaning a $10 bet would win $15. The new rule lowers that payout to $12.

Gaming consultant Bill Zender says the 6 to 5 payout works in Vegas because tourists are there to gamble. But it’s tougher to implement the lower payout in markets that deal with mostly locals, like Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek.

“Six to five blackjack payouts have seen some success in low-limit games in areas that are destination resorts like the Las Vegas Strip,” Zender told me Read more…

Colorado’s mountain casinos posted a 14 percent increase in revenue in December and the industry recorded a 2.6 percent gain for the year. However, only casinos in Black Hawk saw an overall increase in revenue in 2009.

Last month, casinos posted $55.4 million in adjusted gross proceeds – which is total bets minus payouts – up from $48.6 million in December 2008.

During the first six months of 2009, casino revenues fell 3.9 percent compared with the same time period in 2008. Over the final six months after bet limits were raised, new games were added and hours extended, revenues shot up 9.2 percent, according to the state Division of Gaming.

The changes, approved by voters, helped casinos post a 2.6 percent increase in AGP in 2009. In 2008, the industry suffered a 12.3 percent drop.

For 2009, Black Hawk’s 20 casinos generated $530 million in AGP, up 4 percent from $509 million in 2008. Cripple Creek’s 16 casinos posted $140 million in AGP, which was flat from the year before. Central City’s six casinos totaled $64.2 million in AGP in 2009, down 4.3 percent from $67.1 million in 2008.

Colorado’s mountain casinos posted an 8 percent increase in revenue in November compared with the same month in 2008, according to data released today by the state Division of Gaming.

Black Hawk casinos actually saw a 13 percent increase in revenue, but the statewide total was taken down because casinos in Cripple Creek and Central City reported drops in revenue.

Home to the state’s largest casinos, Black Hawk generates the bulk of Colorado’s gaming revenue.

For November, the state’s 40 casinos reported adjusted gross proceeds – total bets minus payouts – of $61.2 million, up from $56.7 million last year.

Through the first five months of Amendment 50 changes, AGP is up 8.5 percent compared with a year ago. Gaming taxes are up 18.8 percent, an indication that the big boys (Ameristar, Isle) are responsible for much of the revenue increase. Any revenue generated beyond $13 million by a casino within a fiscal year is taxed at 20 percent, the highest rate. The first $13 million is taxed at rates ranging from 0.25 percent to 16 percent.

Ameristar CEO Gordon Kanofsky told me last month that the company’s Black Hawk casino posted a 24 percent increase in revenue during the third quarter (the industry recorded 8 percent growth during the same three months). Pretty astonishing numbers. But it’s even more staggering witnessing the domination first hand.

More than five months after bet limits were raised, and two-and-a-half months after Ameristar opened its luxury hotel, the company’s Black Hawk casino is literally crushing the competition, based on my experience and accounts from casino employees.

The Lodge Casino, the premier spot for poker players in Black Hawk just six months ago, struggled to fill tables on a recent Friday evening. Even with a $300,000 bad-beat jackpot, it felt like a weekday evening as about half of the casino’s poker tables were unoccupied. Meanwhile, two-hour waits for a seat at a 1-2, 100 game are common in Ameristar’s poker room on weekend nights.

The state Division of Gaming should release November revenue figures within the next week. But it won’t be broken out by casino. We won’t know just how far ahead of the competition Ameristar is until the company announces fourth quarter financial results early next year. My guess is the gap between Ameristar and the rest of the industry will widen.

And while regulators have already cut their projection on casino-tax revenue growth for the current fiscal year from 25 percent to 10 percent, I wouldn’t be surprised if the forecast was cut even further. By most accounts, Ameristar is the only casino that is maintaining or exceeding the growth pace seen during the first month of higher limits, extended hours and new games.

The assumption is that more regulars are playing at Ameristar with hopes of earning comps for the casino’s hotel, which is clearly a cut above anything else available in Black Hawk. Whether the casino can hold onto those gamblers after Read more…

Black Hawk and Central City casinos are on pace to post an increase in revenue this year after experiencing a deep downturn in 2008, thanks in large part to higher limits, longer hours and new games, according to an analysis by gaming consultant Bill Palermo.

Through October, Black Hawk and Central Casinos posted a 1.5 percent increase in revenue compared with the same time frame a year.

Casinos in the mountain towns suffered a 12.4 percent for the first ten months of 2008, Palermo’s report states. Cripple Creek also has commercial casinos, but that market isn’t included in Palermo’s report.

In July, Colorado casinos were allowed to raise the minimum bet limit from $5 to $100, add craps and roulette table games and stay open 24 hours. Gaming revenues increased 10.7 percent from July to October compared to the same period in 2008. That growth equates to an increase of $21.1 million for the four-month period, and two-thirds of the increase stems from table games, which now represent 11 percent of total revenue.

Palermo said these signs show that the industry may have “bottomed out” after enduring an 18-month downturn from 2008 to mid-2009.

Despite the boost in revenue, a couple of operators are struggling financially, an indication that the industry has yet to bottom out nationwide.

Colorado Division of Gaming director Ron Kammerzell provided some interesting statistics about the state’s casino industry at a Legislative Audit Committee hearing Monday. As noted in today’s story, regulators sharply cut the projection on the impact of Amendment 50 on gaming tax revenue to 10 percent from 25 percent.

During the first two months of the changes, black jack revenue shot up 237 percent and poker increased 46 percent. Slot revenue was up 1.9 percent, not including games that have a max bet of higher than $5 maximum. Slots still generate the bulk of the industry’s revenue. In July and August, slots generated more than $130 million in revenue, while poker generated $6.4 million.

Through the entire calendar year 2008, the division received 1,005 new support license applications, which is an indication of new hires at the casinos. So far this year, the division has received 2,357 new applications. In July and August alone, there were 555 applications. The monthly average historically has been about 100, Kammerzell said. The numbers show that casinos have continued to hire two months after the changes took effect. Ameristar Casinos said last week its employment has increased from 490 to 750 this year, and would reach 800 by the time its hotel opens tonight.

To make room for the new table games, casinos cut back on their slot machines, from 16,787 in the fiscal year that ended June 30 to 15,673 during the current fiscal year. Poker tables nearly tripled and black jack tables doubled. There are 27 craps tables and 26 roulette tables at casinos in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek.

The Gaming Division’s budget for the current fiscal year is $10.5 million, up 6 percent from fiscal 2009. It added 13 full-time workers to handle Amendment 50 changes and now employ 92.

Some gamblers already think that casinos can change payout percentages with a flip of the switch, but that’s not the case.

Currently, casinos must replace a piece of hardware to change the payout percentages on slot machines, as noted in the story. But I’m told the industry is working on making slots server-based, which would allow them to change payout percentages and other parts of the game remotely from a computer. This would be a significant change, if and when it happens, because it will allow operators to tinker with games much more easily, and thus, more frequently.

I was also told today that one of the major casinos in Black Hawk is telling employees/patrons that the machines aren’t tighter. The explanation they are being given is that payout percentages have dropped because business has been down. That doesn’t make much sense.

If the machines have not been tinkered with, or if operators are NOT ordering machines with lower payouts, then the percentages would remain relatively flat even when business is down, given how much is wagered annually on slots (nearly $8.7 billion in 2008, which was down from $10.4 billion in 2007).

A factor that may play a role in lower payouts on penny slots is the fact that some don’t bet the maximum on those machines. You must bet the maximum to win the biggest jackpots. But then again, some gamblers who play the nickel, quarter and dollar slots don’t bet the maximum, either.

Anyway, penny slots have really boomed in Colorado and apparently across the country. USA Today had a piece this week about how penny slots are the hottest form of betting during the recession.

The fireworks for Colorado’s casino industry will start two days before July 4. In fact, the industry is so anxious to move forward with Amendment 50 changes that plans are being made for higher limits and new games to go into effect at exactly 12 a.m. on Thursday, July 2 – the earliest allowed under state law.

According to a June 15 Division of Gaming newsletter, casinos will be able to take bets of up to $100 and operate craps and roulette at the stroke of midnight. But chips for those games can only be purchased ahead of time at the cashiers’ cages, not at the individual table games.

The majors in Black Hawk – Isle of Capri, Ameristar, Lodge and Golden Gaming (which operates 3 casinos including Mardi Gras) – will undoubtedly have craps and roulette ready for July 2.

The industry is still in a bit of a funk, so operators are banking heavily that the voter-approved changes will turn things around.

“Last year at this time, Amendment 50 wasn’t even in the nomenclature of the Colorado casino industry, which was focused on the trifecta of the statewide smoking ban, higher gas prices and the shrinking national economy,” said division of gaming director Ron Kammerzell in the newsletter. “Although the former and the latter are still having a major impact on the industry, the focus is on Amendment 50 and whether it will be the panacea for the ills caused by these factors.”

Casino operators have been in a hiring frenzy in recent weeks and seemingly have swamped local TV and radio stations with ads.

The AGA report, released annually, states that casinos nationwide posted a revenue drop of 4.7 percent in 2008. The report also gives some other interesting tidbits about the gambling industry, such as the fact that racinos (racetracks with slot machines) are booming despite the recession, and how Americans spend nearly as much on candy as they do on casino gambling.

It’s worth a flip-through if you are interested in the casino industry.

For 2008, Colorado casinos posted revenue of $715.9 million, down from $816.1 million. They generated $88.4 million in tax revenue for the state, down 23.4 percent from $115.4 million in 2007.

In Colorado, several casinos have said they plan to hire dozens of workers to prepare for higher stakes, new games and longer operating hours that are coming July 2.

For a list of Colorado casinos and their contact information, click here. The site is run by Brian Decorah, who was recently laid off from an Arizona casino. Decorah says in a press release that his site provides links to 764 gaming operations in 34 states. It costs $19.95 a month if you want to search the site for a specific job posting.

Ameristar Casinos is the latest casino in Colorado to host a “hiring event.” The company is looking to fill an undisclosed number of deli workers for its casino in Black Hawk and is running an event at the Jefferson County Workforce Center (3500 Illinois St., Golden, 80401) on Thursday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 303-271-4560.

Andy Vuong joined The Denver Post as a business reporter in 2000 after graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a news-editorial degree. His primary beats are gambling, telecommunications and technology. Over the years, his coverage has included everything from aviation to federal courts.